Rare photos of survived Burans.

[jwenting]

Being broke makes it interesting for someone to cheaply buy them and use them for a museum, or Jeb forbid, a theme park.

except that they were built for the Soviet military so are now owned by the Russian military.

They're state secrets still, certainly any details are (the overall shape is known well enough they probably don't care about someone taking pictures of the outside much, if they can prevent it at all...).

And yes, the building's no doubt collapsing. The walls look like they're heavily corroded, I'd not be surprised if parts of the roof have already collapsed, wall and roof plating been removed to serve as construction materials for the staff in their houses after the USSR stopped paying their salaries in 1990 or so and nobody took over paying them for several years.

What you see here is typical for the state of the entire USSR in those days, and nothing much has changed to the old relics in the 25 years since, except where there was strategic need to take action to prevent nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons knowledge and equipment/materials from falling into the wrong hands (and most of that effort was paid for by the USA).

[Hcube]

except that they were built for the Soviet military so are now owned by the Russian military.

No, the whole Baikonur facility and thestuff that is inside like the Burans is owned by Kazakhstan and leased to Russia until the 2050's IIRC. Unless you are talking about the other Buran mock ups and prototypes spread in museums around the world, those are probably owned by Russia.

And yes, the building's no doubt collapsing. The walls look like they're heavily corroded, I'd not be surprised if parts of the roof have already collapsed, wall and roof plating been removed to serve as construction materials for the staff in their houses after the USSR stopped paying their salaries in 1990 or so and nobody took over paying them for several years.

The building has already collapsed because of unusual rain in the region. The roof acted like a sponge and when technicians tried to renforce it, it collapsed and killed 6 people along with the Burans. The picture on the OP is taken from the top so you can't see it but the roof was dead open at the moment the picture was taken. I think that it is being somehow rebuilt now

Edited June 7, 2015 by Hcube
typo

[Jovzin]

Hmm is it so sad to see those pics.

Guys from Russia can you translate this article to EN pls ?

http://ralphmirebs.livejournal.com/219949.html

[Tex_NL]

You might want to weigh in on this thread: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/124524-Rare-photos-of-survived-Burans

[CelticCossack51]

Those just make me eager to move in and call it Bunker 9. I don't know how Roscosmos will respond, but it's worth a try.

[sal_vager]

You might want to weigh in on this thread: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/124524-Rare-photos-of-survived-Burans

Thread merged (and moved back, silly vBulletin)

[lajoswinkler]

Hmm is it so sad to see those pics.

Guys from Russia can you translate this article to EN pls ?

http://ralphmirebs.livejournal.com/219949.html

Just put the link into Google Translate. It won't do a magnificent job, but it's a start.

[vger]

A Russian Space Shuttle? How in the heck have I never heard about this before?

[Scotius]

A Russian Space Shuttle? How in the heck have I never heard about this before?

Shame on you

[jwenting]

No, the whole Baikonur facility and thestuff that is inside like the Burans is owned by Kazakhstan and leased to Russia until the 2050's IIRC. Unless you are talking about the other Buran mock ups and prototypes spread in museums around the world, those are probably owned by Russia.

That doesn't mean the vehicles aren't owned by the Russian military...

- - - Updated - - -

A Russian Space Shuttle? How in the heck have I never heard about this before?

it only ever made one flight to space, and that one an unmanned test with no cargo.

[OddFunction]

I definitely stared at those photos awhile. Then I went and read the entire wiki page for the plane. Imagine if the Soviets Union survived, and they had 6 of these things doin space stuff. Imagine what that would have done to the space race.

Beautiful pictures.

[Brethern]

I definitely stared at those photos awhile. Then I went and read the entire wiki page for the plane. Imagine if the Soviets Union survived, and they had 6 of these things doin space stuff. Imagine what that would have done to the space race.

july

Beautiful pictures.

Space shuttles seems like a dead end to me, soyuz still has descendants flying missions but space shuttles ended july 21 2011, if they were the be all end all of space missions wouldn't someone be using them?

[OddFunction]

Space shuttles seems like a dead end to me, soyuz still has descendants flying missions but space shuttles ended july 21 2011, if they were the be all end all of space missions wouldn't someone be using them?

Well I envisioned the US and USSR constantly one-upping eachother, with the shuttles being just one of many potential programs. You're right though there is not a lot that a shuttle can do that a rocket can't. More of a status symbol/pride thing in my opinion.

[Nibb31]

That doesn't mean the vehicles aren't owned by the Russian military...

It doesn't mean that they are. Technically, they were owned by the Soviet government, whose assets were transferred to the republics when the Soviet Union split up. Military assets were no exception.

- - - Updated - - -

A Russian Space Shuttle? How in the heck have I never heard about this before?

It's hard to imagine a space enthusiast who has never heard of the Energia, N1, or Buran.

- - - Updated - - -

Well I envisioned the US and USSR constantly one-upping eachother, with the shuttles being just one of many potential programs. You're right though there is not a lot that a shuttle can do that a rocket can't. More of a status symbol/pride thing in my opinion.

The reason the Soviet Union built a Space Shuttle was because the US had one. They figured that if the US was building a fleet of them, it must have been for some unknown military purpose, because they knew that it didn't make any sense economically. So they went ahead and scrapped their smaller MAKS/Spiral spaceplane programs and went for the larger Buran, which was so expensive that it participated in bankrupting the Soviet Union. Well played Mr Reagan!

[RAINCRAFTER]

It's sad in what bad shape they are.

Well, at least the second one still exists. I think right now Russia is trying to create the best spaceplane design ever, and base it off of a ton of canceled concepts (including this one!).

EDIT: I said that first thing because the first Buran was a victim of a fire in the building it was in.

Edited June 8, 2015 by RAINCRAFTER

[Nibb31]

Well, at least the second one still exists. I think right now Russia is trying to create the best spaceplane design ever, and base it off of a ton of canceled concepts (including this one!).

Russia has pretty l much given up on space planes, unless you know something we don't.

EDIT: I said that first thing because the first Buran was a victim of a fire in the building it was in.

No it wasn't, as has been mentioned several times in this thread. It was destroyed by the collapse of the roof of the assembly building in which it was stored.

[RAINCRAFTER]

Russia has pretty l much given up on space planes, unless you know something we don't.

I read on Wikipedia that they had interest in reviving the Buran and another weird spaceplane program. I assumed wanting to revive both meant combining them, and there you go.

I don't see why they wouldn't do that if they had the budget. Actually, do they even have the budget? (One last thing; an internet study showed that 95% of Wikipedia pages are accurate. And believe me, those guys who made it try to make it better.)

[xenomorph555]

I read on Wikipedia that they had interest in reviving the Buran and another weird spaceplane program. I assumed wanting to revive both meant combining them, and there you go.

I don't see why they wouldn't do that if they had the budget. Actually, do they even have the budget? (One last thing; an internet study showed that 95% of Wikipedia pages are accurate. And believe me, those guys who made it try to make it better.)

By "they", your talking about random engineers and scientists, not anyone with actual power (Vlad has bigger things on his mind right now). They do not have the budget and are focusing on other projects right now (PPTS/Angara). Even if they did have the budget it would not be worth it because semi-reusable space shuttles for cargo make no sense.

[RAINCRAFTER]

By "they", your talking about random engineers and scientists, not anyone with actual power (Vlad has bigger things on his mind right now). They do not have the budget and are focusing on other projects right now (PPTS/Angara). Even if they did have the budget it would not be worth it because semi-reusable space shuttles for cargo make no sense.

This made me want to make a space program with only SSTOs and the way it would make money would be by painting ads on the outside of the craft in heat resistant paint.

SSTOs are the future!

[Nibb31]

SSTOs are the future!

No they're not. SSTOs have a tiny payload fraction. If you want to recover your SSTO, then you need to add a TPS and recovery hardware (wheels, wings, parachutes, fuel, etc...) for the entire rocket which turns your tiny payload fraction into a negative payload fraction. Multiple stages allow a more significant payload fraction, which provides a margin for the smaller TPS and recovery hardware for each stage.

[MrZayas1]

Very upsetting to see the buran in this state. How hard is it to give a shuttle a hose wash? :/

[magnemoe]

No they're not. SSTOs have a tiny payload fraction. If you want to recover your SSTO, then you need to add a TPS and recovery hardware (wheels, wings, parachutes, fuel, etc...) for the entire rocket which turns your tiny payload fraction into a negative payload fraction. Multiple stages allow a more significant payload fraction, which provides a margin for the smaller TPS and recovery hardware for each stage.

True, making something 2-3 stages and fully recoverable will be far simpler and cheaper.

[DerekL1963]

I read on Wikipedia that they had interest in reviving the Buran and another weird spaceplane program.

The Russians produce Grand Schemes for future space activities on a regular basis - to date pretty much none of them have progressed beyond a press release with some pretty graphics. That hasn't stopped the credulous from taking them at face value though.

[Wallygator]

I think this thread should not be about a dispute regarding the validity of SSTOs vs expendable rockets...

This thread wants to become a voice for preserving remnants of our species' race to space.

The Buran is a reflection of this.

To see it decompose is a crime against culture - regardless of which society or ideology you subscribe.

Many people in the USSR supported space efforts, just as in the USA and many other countries

The Buran must be preserved. Full stop.

[Pixel of Life]

What if someone started a kickstarter to buy Burya for a museum or get RKK Energia to move it to their museum? Burya is probably worth $50 million or less due to the lack of electronics, being incomplete, and the overall decay.

I don't think that'll happen, seeing as most people don't really care about space exploration... How do you convince them that the remaining Buran-class shuttles are culturally and historically priceless objects that must be preserved? Then there's still the problem of actually raising enough money to buy and restore one of the shuttles. If we assume the whole process costs $50 million, Star Citizen's kickstarter campaign is the only one that has ever surpassed that - but you gotta remember that gaming is a hell of a lot more popular than space exploration. The #2 crowdfunding record holder doesn't even get anywhere close to the $50m figure at a puny $20 million.

Edited June 11, 2015 by CaptainKorhonen